Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis
In Parvana’s Journey, sequel to The Breadwinner (my review here), Deborah Ellis continues shedding light on the horrific situations that war brings not only to all of us, but especially to children. In this book, we find Parvana alone. She has just buried her father and has no idea where her mother and siblings are. She must walk through Afghanistan and not be caught or punished by the Taliban, because she’s a girl pretending to be a boy. She walks from village to village, begging, working, scrounging for a few scraps of food. On her journey, she finds a small baby, a boy, and a little girl. They band together, searching for their lost families.
Parvana has fond memories of her “other” life before war broke out in her home country. What her and the other children don’t understand is what’s happening all around them. They ask themselves, why do they bomb us, why would they hurt children, why would they kill Grandmother, when they don’t even know who she is? Why, why, why? Parvana, the oldest of the group, is strong and determined. She works hard to lead them to safety and is forced to act much older than she is. I so desperately wanted to know what happened to these children that I couldn’t stop reading. This is a stunning tale of the bravery, resourcefullnes, and determination that children have when faced with the unthinkable during war.
I thought Parvana’s Journey was stunning sequel to The Breadwinner and I can’t wait to read the completion of Parvana’s tale in the third and final book, Mud City.
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Category: Book Reviews, Fiction, Middle Readers
Tags: Afghanistan, E-H Author, female author, Fiction, M-P Title, war
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Ooh, this looks like an excellent series to read. Thanks for sharing. I just finished a short novella about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan – Earth and Ashes, by Atiq Rahimi. It’s a very powerful little book.
on March 29th, 2008 at 6:28 amlittle miao – I’m not sure why this book isn’t more popular among bloggers, especially those that read a lot of middle grade fiction. I think it’s a great series and I’m looking forward to reading the final installment. I think a lot of schools have this series on their curriculum though. My The Breadwinner post is one of my most viewed posts and I’ve got a lot of kids asking me questions for book reports. So far they all love it! I shall look into Earth and Ashes.
on March 29th, 2008 at 10:21 amhey this is the best book i have eva read
on April 7th, 2008 at 7:38 pmI have actulley never read parvannas jorney but im definetly going to! I was just woundering if the bread winner is better then parvanas jouney?
Oh but i have read mud city and i think i was easy one of the best books i read!
on April 13th, 2008 at 8:44 pmZoey – You’ll want to read The Bread Winner first and then Parvana’s Journey. In this case, the are the same story and it won’t make sense if you read Parvana’s Journey first. I know you read Mud City and in that case, it was okay to not read the others yet. Thanks for stopping by!
on April 13th, 2008 at 8:58 pmWell I usally read them in order LOL but this was actually for a novel study.
on April 13th, 2008 at 9:07 pmAlso i was woundering if theres any books u recomend for a 12 years old girl to read. Im one of the best readers in my class and i read pretty challenging books. So recoemend any books?
These are some books that I’ve read in the last few months that I really liked and you might enjoy:
Sold by Patricia McCormick
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm
The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy
Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat
These are some books that I’m looking forward to reading this year that you might want to look into:
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Spear
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
If you go to the top of my blog, to reading list, you can find links to my reviews on the first list of books to see if they are something you might be interested in.
on April 13th, 2008 at 9:32 pmSame subject as my pervious blog- I would just like to add that im really interested in olden day books. When I say that I mean books from the mid 1900s and down.
on April 13th, 2008 at 9:35 pm*zOeY*
Hmm . . . give me a few days and I’ll get some recommendations for you!
on April 13th, 2008 at 9:53 pmThanks for some book ideas! I will suerly be going to the libary this weekend!
It’s kinda werid at my school because none of my friends ( at my school ) are into books but I love them! But I do have one friend that dosen’t go to my school and we can just have a long convosation about a book we just read! Man I wish all of my friends were like her!
on April 13th, 2008 at 9:56 pmI got the book “The bread winner” from my school libary. Also I got the book “Where the red fern grows” my teacher said good things about it so I thought I’d try it. Have you ever read it? Because I diden’t see it in your reading list. If so do u think its a book worth reading
on April 14th, 2008 at 4:28 pmZoey – I think I’ll read Where the Red Fern Grows this month as well. It will be fun. I don’t know how I got through my childhood without reading that one and I suppose it should be remedied. You will have to let me know how you like The Breadwinner when you’re done. I’ve reviewed it and have a short little video you may want to watch.
on April 15th, 2008 at 6:58 pmI’ve read over half of where the red fern grows and it’s a awsome book!!!!!!! It mad my laugh out, it brought tears to my eyes and it made me smile. I’d rate this book 10/10! And i really recumend this book to you
on April 15th, 2008 at 8:10 pmhey zOeY you should read thr boy in stripped pajamas it is sad but awesome
on April 23rd, 2008 at 3:29 pmZoey – I’ve checked out Where the Red Fern Grows, thanks for the recommendation.
And I’ve also read The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas. You can read my thoughts here
on April 23rd, 2008 at 3:37 pmthis is one of my favorite books i have read this book four times and when Mrs.Roux and Mrs.Farrel read this to my class, lots of my classmates loved this book. I have read the breadwinner,Parvana’s journey, and mud city. Right now, I’m reading this to my dad and he’s really liking this book. I loved all three of the books.My friend,Jolynn read all three of the books and liked them. On chapter 20 of Parvana’s journey I cried when Leila died.Here are some characters from Parvana’s journey I described about. Parvana: Nice,helpful,and caring Asif:funny, and mean Leila:nice,and helpful Hassan:cute,and thin that is how I described about the characters from Parvana’s journey
One of your biggest fans
*Erica*
on April 25th, 2008 at 10:19 pmmy favorite character from Parvana’s journey is mostly Asif because he mostly likes to play with Hassan and i like to play with my baby cousin, Kassandra.My second favorite character is Hassan because he’s cute. My third favorite characters are Parvana and Leila because they are both nice.
One of your biggest fans,
on April 26th, 2008 at 5:14 pm*Erica*
Erica – Thanks for your review! The characters are great.
on April 26th, 2008 at 11:06 pmhi i’m mayra an i’m just going to do a presentation of parvana’s journey but with a new poster that were making and i need some information too like i don’t know how to do this like “write an interview for a main character in your novel” but dont know really how to do this you think you can give a hand? ok bye and thanks and a one more question today is APRIL 1, 2008 AT 9:27PM
on May 1st, 2008 at 6:24 pmHEY AND LET ME TELL YOU THIS IS A GOOD BOOK EVER!
on May 1st, 2008 at 6:25 pmMayra – I imagine that “write an interview for a main character in your novel” probably means what type of questions would you ask them? You may want to clarify this with your teacher. So if Parvana was your main character, what would you like to know about her? Pretend that she’s a brand new friend and you don’t know anything about her? Or that she’s a new pen pal. What types of questions do you ask new friends? If you think along those line you should be able to come up with some good ones.
on May 2nd, 2008 at 8:58 amhey natasha-i think you give me what i was need for and i’m doing that right now so thanks and i’m finish with my poster and is really good too , so as my script of the book and i think we have to acted well i’m no sure i think is going to be fun but no with other people that you want to because i’m from ESL and some think that i dont know anything but just some but the people whos was od befor are been mean now i would like to know what to do ?
and i have a question how is this suppost to be a “form of narratives”?if you dont know it okey and thank you for you help
and hey how old are you? are you 13 or 14? do still going to school like me or your big ?
are you from canada? because i speak spanish and i’m from colombia
well no more questions and thank you so much.:)
on May 6th, 2008 at 6:03 pmMayra – I’m glad that I could help and I’m glad that your project turned out well. I’m sorry to hear that some of the other kids are mean. I’m not sure what type of advice to give. Work hard and realize that childhood is just a small moment in your life. What seems to matter now won’t matter in the big picture. I’m sure being an ESL student makes it a bit harder to make friends. Hang in there! As far as my age, I’m actually quite a bit older than you! I live in the US and am a mother.
As far as “a form of narratives” again you may want to clarify with your teacher. A narrative is a story that strings together fictional (or non-fictional) events in a form that is best suited for that story (play, song, book, dance, etc.). I’m not sure that helps or not.
on May 11th, 2008 at 10:07 pmhi, i have read the breadwinner which is the beginning of parvana’s story. I am really looking forward for parvana to meet her family if they are still alive. When i was reading the book. i was crying and just trying to get the picture of what parvana is going through. It really hurts me to see what some people like parvana are going through while i am here thinking life could be any more better.
on May 12th, 2008 at 10:10 amgood, good book
on May 13th, 2008 at 10:57 amhi natacha thankx again thi thing is getting better because we did a facebook for the main character in the book i did one for parvana and we are writing a journey about how would feel or what would the write and see my ok!
and see because i might need suggestions.
I’m all alone!…. i wish i could had someone to talk to,….. i don’t know what to to without my father,… why,why did he left me?…a week ago i buried my father. if my father was here, he would say the world is our classroom, or he might say our classroom is our world and we have to live with it .but i know what he would be proud of too…. just to be brave and good person and survived by my own and find mother sister and brother and now how big are they now ?… oh, i miss them so much and when i uselly talk with my father about our familly i miss to talk that with dad…i know my father is resting riht now and i know he’s watching me from wherever he is and i’ll do what he said before “you will all grow into strong, brave women and you will rebuilt our poor afghanistan.” because if we stop we die that’s was he always told me and i’ll learn from that. but i’ll just keep going.
and this is all any suggestions
is it good or do i have to add something anyways thanks see you later your the firs to see it
bye
on May 13th, 2008 at 6:09 pmhi are you there?/
on May 24th, 2008 at 8:35 pmOh Mayra – I’m so sorry! I thought that your piece was excellent. I really felt the sorrow and despair of Parvana. I would just make sure that you work on your capitalization and punctuation. Good job!
on May 27th, 2008 at 10:32 pmi luved all the books i have read them all 100 times over they are so touching i just luv them.they are kewl adventure books… and i luv adventure!! : )
on June 7th, 2008 at 10:34 ampavarna is ausum and i would like u to make a movie for both episodse
on July 29th, 2008 at 1:37 amHi natacha a just resive the menssage hat you wrote to me and thanks
on July 29th, 2008 at 8:29 amhave a good summer
hey read rufugee it’s as good as parvana does any1 know if there will be anothe book??????????????
on September 10th, 2008 at 5:51 amVanessa – 100 times!? Wow!
Marley – A movie would be cool.
Mayra – Thanks. Hope yours was great as well.
Demie – I’ll have to look into Refugee, thanks. There is a third book in this series, called Mud City. It’s the last one.
on September 10th, 2008 at 10:23 pmit’s awesome
on January 26th, 2009 at 5:10 pmhey deborah i and my class are reading your book together i just hope pavarna get’s her dad back and the taliban would leave afganistan alone the woemen were neglected and that is bad but great book how did uyou survive when you went to visit
on June 4th, 2009 at 2:40 pmParvana’s Journey is a great book and i really like it
on October 25th, 2009 at 5:52 pmcan someone please give me the idea for what parvana did for courage?????? PLEASEEEEEEEE
on November 1st, 2009 at 3:50 pm